Blog

Coffee specialty firm Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters said it raised $30 million in a Series B funding round, led by A91 Partners.

With this round it brings on board White Whale Ventures as new investors. Existing investors including 8i Ventures, Grand Anicut Fund, and leading family offices, also participated in the round.

The round follows the company’s previous investment in June last year and is the largest investment round in the Indian specialty coffee industry till date, the company said.

What’s next for Blue Tokai?

Blue Tokai will use the funds from this round to scale its business further and expand its presence in specialty coffee markets worldwide.

It is also working towards launching a slate of new fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) products, strengthening its customer experience, and support small-scale independent farmers.

“In the context of the massive coffee-led QSR market opportunity, this is a compelling partnership opportunity for us,” said Abhay Pandey of A91 Partners.

“India is moving towards coffee as their beverage of choice, and we are looking forward to further building this category with Blue Tokai as the largest specialty coffee brand in the country,” he added.

Founded in 2013, Gurgaon-based Blue Tokai is synonymous with Indian specialty coffee and is home to four roasteries and over 60 physical outlets across major Indian cities and regions, including Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Mohali, and Pune as well as international operations in Japan.

Blue Tokai has also partnered with the country’s marquee retail outlets, luxury hotels and restaurants, top corporations, and co-working spaces, among others.

It focused on growing its presence across all of channels, including own cafes as well as our business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) offerings. In the next 3 years, it plans to showcase the work done by 100 new specialty coffee producers, enabling a more diverse product offering.

“Over the next 3 years, we plan to add 200 new stores, taking our overall count to well over 250 cafes. We will also be investing in our B2B arm, bringing new technology for our partners through our machine offerings,” said Shivam Shahi, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Blue Tokai.

Blue Tokai aims to make specialty coffee more accessible to consumers through its cafés, brewing classes, and website.